[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 158 (Thursday, November 15, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E2088]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              THE FOREIGN GOVERNMENT OWNERSHIP ACT OF 2001

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                       HON. W. J. (BILLY) TAUZIN

                              of louisiana

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 15, 2001

  Mr. TAUZIN. Mr. Speaker, last week, Senator Hollings and I joined 
together to introduce legislation to emphasize the prohibition on 
foreign goverment ownership of American telecommunications and 
broadcast infrastructure. This is not a new concept. It has been the 
law for more than fifty years in order to protect the American national 
interest.
  We have been dismayed this year by the FCC's approval of the Deutsche 
Telekom acquisition of VoiceStream Wireless Communications and the SES-
Astra acquisition of GE Americom Communications. For several years, we 
have repeatedly expressed the most serious reservations about the 
Commission's interpretation of the foreign government ownership 
provisions of Section 310 of the Communications Act. We have repeatedly 
pointed out that companies controlled by foreign governments are too 
often motivated by political considerations that may be against the 
interests of the United States rather than by the working of the 
competitive marketplace.
  Notwithstanding our stated concerns, the Commission approved the 
Deutsche Telekom acquisition of VoiceStream in April of this year, 
revealing the clear differences between the Congress and members of the 
Commission about the meaning and application of Section 310. The 
proposal of SES-Astra to acquire GE Americom presented the same 
concerns, and I asked the Commission to conduct a ``vigorous review;'' 
of the proposed acquisition to assure that our national interests were 
protected. However, instead of the vigorous review that was needed and 
requested, the Commission allowed the International Bureau to rapidly 
approve this significant acquisition in a pro forma manner. Indeed, 
once that approval had been given, SES-Astra revealed that it had not 
fully revealed the substantial extent of foreign control in the 
company, but the FCC staff again gave its prompt pro forma approval 
with no public notice.
  Commissioner Michael J. Copps issued a statement noting that SES-
Astra's failure to reveal the full extent of its foreign ownership and 
stating that the Telecommunications Act required the FCC to provide the 
opportunity for public notice. We agree. We believe the Commission has 
exceeded its authority in this area and has not weighed fully the full 
national interest considerations in foreign government ownership of our 
telecommunications infrastructure, especially in the wake of recent 
events that have heightened our concerns about the security of our 
homeland.
  Accordingly, we introduced legislation to make it clear that foreign 
governments are not allowed to own or control American 
telecommunications, satellite, or broadcast networks, whether directly 
or indirectly. This legislation does not break new ground, but rather 
simply reaffirms, in no uncertain terms, that the telecommunications, 
broadcast, and Internet facilities that underlie our freedom of speech 
and our economy cannot be made vulnerable to the actions of foreign 
governments.
  We suggest that it serves neither the public interest nor the 
interest of the applicants for the FCC to approve any mergers of this 
type, or for that matter to allow the SES-Astra acquisition of GE 
Americom to go forward without the full Commission seriously addressing 
our concerns.

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